A Mistake
by CatKkit
Summary: When Tsugumi, Meme, and Anya are assigned to take out an evil human, they are more than excited. It was supposed to be an easy mission to test and see if they were combat capable, to see if they could switch from NOT to EAT classes. Too bad the entire thing was a scam, organized by a misled figure. Too bad the consequence were far higher than any of them could imagine.
1. Chapter 1

**New Story!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Are you guys ready for this?" Tsugumi asked, practically bouncing off the walls. She, along with Meme and Anya, were waiting in Dr. Stein's classroom. It was after hours, but they were meeting there to go on a mission. They were going to track down a soul at risk of becoming a kishin egg. It was their first mission of that kind, and it was a unique opportunity since it was usually the EAT kids who hunted down souls.

"Yeah Tsugumi!" Meme said excitedly. "Um, what are we ready for?"

"For our new mission, duh!" Anya scoffed. "Try to remember, please! I don't want you to forget what we're doing and then walk away in the middle of a battle!"

"Oh, alright!" Meme nodded, overlooking Anya's spiteful tone.

"We probably won't be doing much fighting, though. After all, we get to work with the Spartoi kids!" Tsugumi said with a squeal. "With Maka! I'm so excited!"

"You can't be so sure of that," Anya muttered. "Who knows? We might get stuck with Kim." At that comment, Tsugumi ran up the steps to the window and began peeking out, trying to get a glimpse of anybody approaching the school. Meme quickly joined her along with Anya, who was not going to be left pitch black night coupled with the glare from the window made it almost impossible to see anything

"I don't think Kim is all that bad," Tsugumi replied, struggling to make anything out from the window. "And I wouldn't mind getting stuck with Ox. He's pretty cool, and I heard he has an amazing partner."

"You hear that, Harvar? She called you 'amazing'," a voice said from the front of the room, causing the three girls to scream.

Loud.

"Did you know that some screams can reach over 100 decibels?" another voice, this one male, replied.

"I don't doubt that."

When Tsugumi finally turned around, she saw two people standing at the front of the room. She recognized the first on sight: it was someone she hadn't seen in over a year.

"Jackie!" she shouted, running down all the steps and tackling the older girl before she saw what was coming.

"Ow! Okay, ow! Nice to see you, Tsugumi!" Jackie said, trying to push her off. Meme and Anya, being the loyal friends they were, decided to do exactly what Tsugumi did; they ran forward and jumped on top of Jackie and Tsugumi.

"They're quite happy to see you," the male voice said again. The three younger girls looked up to see a fairly attractive guy standing not five feet from them.

"Oh, hi!" Tsugumi said, an accursed blush already spreading across her cheeks.

"Who are you?" Anya demanded immediately.

"That's Harvar," Jackie wheezed. "Now, can you three please get off me?"

"Sorry!" Tsugumi said, her blush getting deeper, making her look like a tomato.

"Yeah, sorry about that!" Meme and Anya said at the same time, shooting furious looks at each other.

"Please try not to kill her," Harvar said as he helped Jackie to her feet. Tsugumi thought he was kidding, but his face remained completely serious.

"We won't!" Anya said, trying not to sound frightened of him.

"Alright, now; are you three ready for your mission?" Jackie asked.

"What? You're going to be in charge of us?" Anya asked, looking at Harvar warily.

"Well, only Harvar was assigned to be your supervisor, but I'll be helping him out," Jackie said with a smile. "As you can probably tell, he isn't really a 'people person'."

"Uh-huh," Meme murmured before collapsing to the floor, sound asleep.

"Does she do that often?" Harvar asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Tsugumi said, kneeling next to her friend. "See? She's coming around now." Meme sat up so fast that she slammed her head into Tsugumi's, leaving them both with a very noticeable bruise.

"Ow!" they both yelled.

"Alright, everybody stop moving now!" Jackie shouted. They all obeyed immediately. "Alright. Now, we will be simply talking now. No more moving or we'll never leave this room."

"So, where are Ox and Kim?" Meme asked.

"On vacation for three weeks," Harvar said, sounding slightly disproving. Jackie noticed this and frowned at him.

"Okay," Meme said with a nod. "I didn't know that you were a part of Spartoi."

Jackie bristled at that remark. "Our team always gets overshadowed by Maka's."

"So, what else is new then? We haven't seen you since you and Kim moved out of the dorms," Meme said, oblivious of the slight tension in the room that she alone had created.

"Well, the world knows that Kim's a witch now, so there's that. And she's kind of dating Ox now," Jackie commented, calming down slightly.

"And he will not stop talking about it," Harvar muttered.

"I know. He tries to tell me about my partner," Jackie said. "You should try to keep him more under control."

Outside the room, a clock chimed, telling the group that it was eight o'clock.

"Oh crap. We've wasted a lot of time," Jackie muttered. "Okay guys, here's the mission: you three are going to track down the soul at risk of becoming a kishin egg and either track it, trap it, or kill it, depending on how dangerous it is."

"This mission will help both the meisters with weapon control as well as teamwork," Harvar added.

"And how are we going to do that? There's only on me," Tsugumi pointed out.

"That's why he's here," Jackie said, pointing at Harvar. "He's the closest weapon match to a halberd."

"Really?" Anya asked with interest. Jackie motioned for him to transform, which he did, landing in her hands.

"You see?" Jackie said, holding out the lightning spear to Meme instead of Anya. "Same weight but a different blade. Meme, you'll be using Harvar for the time being. Anya needs more experience with Tsugumi, so she'll be wielding her tonight."

"Alright," Meme said, taking the spear and twirling it easily.

"Tsugumi, please transform so we can get a move on," Jackie directed. The younger girl obeyed, changing into her halberd form, which Anya caught nimbly.

"The soul you need to collect is in a building on the outskirts of town. I will follow you all there and assist if I feel it's needed. Harvar will tell you whether you are to capture, chase, or kill the monster carrying it. You _will_ be expected to follow his every order to the letter. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am," the three girls muttered in unison, becoming somber.

"You sound like a drill sergeant," Harvar commented dryly.

"Would you rather talk to them?" Jackie asked.

"No," Harvar muttered.

"I didn't think so. Now, get going!"

* * *

**Chapter done!**

**I discovered that there is only five stories written with Tsugumi, Meme, and Anya, so I decided to add to it a little.**

**Just saying.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"So, this is the place," Anya said, looking around and crinkling her nose. It was a rundown hotel that appeared almost western. An ominous breeze fluttered past her, causing her to tighten her grip on the halberd.

"Yeah, this is the place," Harvar agreed. "The kishin is just inside the building."

"Alright. Let's go!" Meme ordered, running clumsily towards the building, only to be stopped by Anya's hand on her shoulder.

"Don't we need some sort of plan?" Anya asked. "I think that would be smart."

"Maybe she has a point," Tsugumi muttered. Anya beamed at the sound of her partner's agreement.

"Come up with one then, but be fast," Harvar warned. "You never know when the kishin might come out from-."

A high-pitched screech cut him off.

"What was that?" Anya asked, frightened.

"That would be the kishin," Harvar said. "Remain calm." Anya and Meme watched the building with anticipation. Harvar could tell how nervous Meme was by her erratic wavelength and could assume that Anya and Tsugumi were feeling the same way.

"Oh my Death," Anya whispered as a shadow began to emerge from the hotel, breaking down the small swinging doors. Out emerged a giant monster. It looked like a reptilian praying mantis, its front claws made of massive crescent-shaped blades. It's eyes were huge and yellow, and it had a full set of razor-sharp fangs. The rest of its human face was obscured by a black mask. Meme and Anya had eyes the size of saucers as they observed the kishin.

"Dr. Henry Holmes, you have consumed human souls with the intent of transforming your soul into a kishin egg!" Meme declared, her voice quivering slightly. This made Anya even more nervous, considering that nothing really scared Meme. The kishin was looking at them with a broad smile forced upon its face from its enormous, gleaming teeth.

"We are here to take your soul!" Anya finished, her voice sounding just as shaky as Meme's. The monster's head swung slowly to look at Anya. She didn't know what to expect from it. It's quickened breathing from pre-battle adrenaline could be heard.

The beast let out another ear-splitting screech as it launched itself at Anya. She yelped and jumped back, twisting away from outstretched claws. The monster then turned on Meme, who was beginning to look drowsy again. It charged with another screech, dodging the spear that was shoved in its face. Meme jumped away from the monster and landed next to Anya. Both girls felt fear beginning to fill them as they barely kept up with the monster's attacks.

This was going to be a lot harder than they thought.

...

Jackie watched the fight from her hiding spot. Anya and Meme were applying some teamwork, one causing a distraction while the other tried to attack, but they weren't getting anywhere. The monster seemed to be in tip-top shape while the two meisters were getting worn out. That was bugging Jackie.

Earlier that week, when Spirit had presented the task to Harvar with Jackie near by, it seemed a little off. Usually, Stein told them of their missions, or Lord Death. Never Spirit though, and it was a task from Stein. It also appeared that the mission was going to be a lot harder than the red-head had originally said. It was supposed to be a low level monster, an easy task even for a new one star meister. This beast was clearly above that, probably a challenge for experienced one star or even two star meisters.

Would Stein intentionally send Tsugumi and her partners on a dangerous mission to test them? Even for him, this was a little extreme. He usually sent the new kids to fight one of his old friends posing as a "mad man" or "murder" or something along those lines, just like Maka and Black Star being put up against Sid and Stein earlier in their partnerships. Maybe Stein overestimated the kishin egg.

But Jackie felt like she was still missing something.

...

"Meme! Move it!" Harvar ordered. The still-drowsy girl obeyed. She was a good fighter, but she waited until the very last minute, which irked Harvar. He was used to Ox moving around as quick as possible.

He observed the kishin egg as it stooped in the center of the courtyard. Now, after a solid five minutes of fighting, it was getting tired out. It was also slightly injured, bleeding from several scratches and punctures along its odd torso. Unknowingly, Harvar was having the same doubts as Jackie. He felt as though it was too much for the neophyte meisters. Each time Harvar was used to block, the monster's blades managed to cause him damage. It was like Maka's description when Ragnarok had struck Soul after using Scream Resonance, but to a lesser level. He could deal with the pain fine, but he wasn't sure how Tsugumi, who was inexperienced, would handle it. Too much could cause her to panic and change back to her human form, which could be disastrous for all of them.

"What are we going to do?" Anya asked. "We can't beat it!"

"Yes, you can, but if you don't focus, you'll die," Harvar stated bluntly. "Think."

"About what?" Meme asked, staring out into space. Anya glared at her, mad that she was so relaxed when they were about to die.

"Where is its weak spot?" he asked. "What spot is he trying hardest to defend?"

"I'm not so sure," Meme said.

"Let's find out," Anya declared. Meme nodded in agreement. The duo separated, Anya remaining in front of the monster while Meme ran out of the courtyard in order to perform a sneak attack. The monster didn't bother trying to chase Meme. It charged at Anya, who began to slash at its legs. It made no special effort to counter, so she quickly moved on to its side. Before she could land a blow, she was forced to jump back to avoid getting skewered. As she did that, the monster leaped at her, ready to enclose her with its massive blades. Anya screamed, closing her eyes and jabbing forward with the point of the halberd. It pierced the monster's chest, causing it to roar in rage.

"You did it, Anya!" Tsugumi cheered as the monster retreated angrily back to the center of the courtyard.

"Wh-? What just happened?" Anya asked as she looked down at the small puddle of blood near her.

"You found its weak spot!" Tsugumi said, sounding very pleased. Anya swelled with pride. Tsugumi's praise was for her only, not Meme.

"Let's take it out then!" She exclaimed. _Before Meme can steal my spotlight._

...

"Won't Jackie wonder why we ran away?" Meme asked as she skidded around a building, jumping over a long dog walker.

"No. She probably figured out what we're doing, why we're doing it, and probably what the outcome will be," Harvar said.

"How?" Meme wondered aloud.

"She's in EAT classification for a reason. She was sorted there even before she had a meister, just like I was," Harvar said. "We both could have gone on missions without meisters, but we eventually got them."

"That's awesome," she said in awe. Suddenly she stopped.

"What are you doing?" Harvar asked.

"I'm not sure. What was I doing?" she asked curiously, looking around. Harvar cursed under his breath when he realized that Meme had undergone one of her "memory wipes", when her short-term memory caught up to her.

"We are going to help Anya and Tsugumi to make sure they don't die," Harvar reminded her gently.

"Oh yeah!" Meme said, running again as she miraculously remembered. She turned sharply into an alleyway and burst into the other side of the clearing where the monster was currently being engaged by Anya. She looked fairly confident with her strokes, which was pretty good considering how nervous she had been earlier. She looked like she was attacking a particular spot on the monster.

"What are you going to do?" Harvar prompted the air-headed girl.

"Help, of course," she said, a tiny smile on her face. "I can whack that sucker on the head. It doesn't matter how strong it is; getting a head shot still hurts." Harvar hummed, showing that he approved of the plan. Meme sprinted forward quietly and leapt up, ready to attack.

"Meme! It's my turn to attack!" Anya shouted when she caught sight of her friend. The monster whipped around, swinging both blades at her. She managed to block using Harvar, but the force still sent her flying across the courtyard and into a wall. Anya let out a whimper when she saw Meme's form, prompting the monster to turn back to her. Her earlier confidence had evaporated in an instant and she was now staring at the beast, halberd hanging loosely at her side.

"Anya, what are you doing?" Tsugumi shouted. Anya was still frozen, even as the monster moved closer to her.

"Meme..." she whispered.

"Anya! Move!" Tsugumi shouted. "Defend yourself!" Anya was shaking so hard that the halberd dropped from her hand, clattering on the cobblestones. "Anya!"

The monster reared up, its bladed forearms reflecting the moonlight as they were brought above its head.

"Please move!" Tsugumi screamed desperately. She would have screamed for Meme and Harvar to come help, but they were still removing themselves from the brick wall. She began to transform back to her human form to try to drag Anya away.

"Do not transform, Tsugumi!" Harvar shouted at her. "If you do, you'll both die!"

Tsugumi swallowed back a scream as the monster brought its claws down on her defenseless friend.

* * *

**Chapter done!**

**Please insult if you find it necessary!**

**Thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3

**New Chapter**

**Yay!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Anya!" Tsugumi screamed as the blades swung down.

It turns out that she had nothing to worry about. As the monster bore down with the blades, Jackie came out of nowhere, tackling Anya out of the way.

"Oh my Death," Anya stuttered as she sat up, her head throbbing from the sudden impact with the ground.

"Stay here, okay?" Jackie said before standing up and turning back to the monster, which was sniffing at the air where Anya had just been, looking confused as it tried to yank it's claws out of the cobblestone road.

"Please don't kill me," Tsugumi was whispering softly under her breath like a mantra, less than a foot from the blades. The monster finally pried them loose and began looking around. It looked down on Tsugumi's halberd form with something close to curiosity. Jackie didn't give it a chance to act on the curiosity. She ran forward while the monster was distracted and skidded under it, scooping up the halberd as she passed.

"Thank you!" Tsugumi cried out as Jackie stopped next to Meme and Harvar. She handed the halberd off the Meme and quickly helped Harvar to his feet.

"What are we going to do?" Jackie asked, watching the monster warily. It seemed that it was a tougher adversary than they had first thought. In actuality, it would have been defeated by now if Anya hadn't given Meme's attack away.

"I'm not sure. Kill it?" Harvar said simply.

"What about them?" Jackie asked, jerking her head to Meme, who had managed to get up and was now holding Tsugumi out in front of her.

"You two stay put-." Harvar's order was cut off by Anya's scream as the monster pounced on her.

"Damn it!" Jackie shouted, her arm transforming into a lantern as she ran up to the monster. Harvar was not far behind her. As Jackie went around it's right flank, Harvar went to the left more slowly, so when the beast turned to look at Jackie, its back was to Harvar. He took advantage of this and did what Meme had intended to do earlier: he cracked the monster over the head with his spear-arm.

Unexpectedly, Meme was back on her feet, slashing at the monsters long reptilian tail. It did little more than irritate the beast, but it turned to face her, giving her the opportunity to attack its exposed chest, all while ducking its boxer-like jabs. She scored a lucky slash, but the monster recoiled in rage, throwing her into the abandoned hotel. The monster went after them, ignoring the two weapons crouched protectively in front of Anya.

"Harvar, go," Jackie said as she knelt down next to Anya. Her frilly white dress was stained with streaks of blood. As far an Jackie could tell, the only injuries that Anya had were shallow slashes along her arm.

"Thank you," she muttered again.

"Anya, do you think you can come into the hotel?" Jackie asked gently. "I think that Meme and Tsugumi could use your help." Anya nodded and Jackie helped her to her feet.

The two girls entered the lobby, which was already damaged from the ensuing battle. Harvar and Meme were fighting against the monster, easily avoiding the swipes. For the time being, they were too quick to hit. Tsugumi had been torn from Meme's grasp and was now on the top floor balcony that overlooked the lobby.

"Anya, go get Tsugumi," Jackie ordered. Anya remained frozen, staring at the monster as it continued to attack Meme and Harvar. "Anya, please."

"Okay," she murmured, running up the stairs as Tsugumi ran across the balcony towards her friend.

"Harvar, what's the game plan?" Jackie shouted, staying back from the fight, looking for an opening.

"Right now? Try to stay alive," Harvar replied.

"Meme, get away from the monster!" Jackie ordered. Meme tried to obey, but couldn't get around the beast. When the beast swung down again, Harvar grabbed Meme and tossed her over the monster's head. She landed on the ground with a thud before running over to Jackie.

"Where are Tsugumi and Anya?" Meme asked quietly. Jackie pointed up the stairs and then left Meme.

"What do you want to do?" Jackie asked as she approached the one on one battle between Harvar and the kishin egg.

"I'm not sure," Harvar said, avoiding the monster's claw and slipping past it, ending up by Jacqueline.

"Heads up!" a voice above them shouted. Tsugumi, Meme, and Anya were still two floors up, holding a red jug with a yellow warning on it. They dumped several on the kishin egg. At first, Jackie and Harvar had no idea what was happening, but then the acrid smell of gasoline hit them.

"Burn it!" Anya shouted down.

"Are you out of your mind?" Jackie shouted back. "We're in a wooden building!" The girls glanced at one another uncertainly. They hadn't been very accurate with their pouring, and the now-drenched monster was chasing Jackie and Harvar around, spreading more of the highly flammable liquid around.

"Oops!" Meme squeaked as she knocked over several of the other containers, effectively drenching the first two floors with gasoline.

"Get out of here now!" Jackie shouted. "But be careful! A single spark could set this place off."

"Jackie," Harvar muttered. "You need to calm down." Jackie felt herself getting angry at the comment but forced herself to listen. It wasn't that he thought she couldn't remain calm. It was just that, when she got nervous or angry or irritated, she tended to heat up and generate tiny tongues of flames.

And they were surrounded by gasoline.

"Worry about yourself," Jackie said as the two of them kept the monster away from the stairs where Tsugumi and her two partners were running from. The monster was no longer targeting Meme and Tsugumi and was now trying its absolute hardest to kill Jackie and Harvar.

"Wait! What are we supposed to do?" Tsugumi shouted as she was running out the door.

"Get one of you meisters to get Sid and Nygus! They should still be at the school!" Harvar ordered. "The other two will stay in case we get overpowered." Tsugumi nodded and ran out the door.

"Do you really think we will be overpowered?" Jackie muttered as she dodged a wild slash.

"I hope not," Harvar muttered in return. He froze when he felt his back up against a wall. That sneaky kishin egg! He was forced to duck and roll between its legs. It got its blades stuck in a metal pipe, severing some sort of gas line. Miraculously, nothing caught fire.

The monster got it's claws out again after some struggle. Jackie watched this, her eyes widening as she saw a pattern emerge.

"Harvar, I have an idea," she said, jumping to his side. "You aren't going to like it."

"Why did I know that you were going to say that?" He muttered as Jackie began to whisper her plan to him quickly.

...

"Sid! Nygus!" Meme cried out as she busted down the door to the nurse's office. She was greeted with the sight of the mummified nurse and zombiefied teacher drinking tea.

"Ah, Meme!" Nygus exclaimed, seeing the familiar girl. Meme came to her weekly with this injury and that, all due to her clumsiness "What are you doing here? Did you hurt yourself again?"

"No, we had a..." she trailed off, forgetting everything again.

"Nygus, look," Sid said, pointing at Meme's dress. It had cuts on it, some of which were bleeding.

"What happened to you?" Nygus demanded. "Where are Tsugumi and Anya?"

"I don't remember..." Meme murmured. She felt like it was something really. It came back suddenly. "Our mission!"

"What mission?" Sid asked, confused. "You three aren't supposed to be on a mission."

"We were assigned one by Professor Stein," she said. Nygus and Sid exchanged confused looks. Usually Stein told at least one of them when there was a mission going on.

"Are you sure?" Nygus asked. "Tell me, who assigned you to the mission?"

"I think it was Maka's dad. I don't remember his name. He told us that Stein was assigning us the mission to take out Dr. Henry H. Holmes," Meme said. "He assigned Harvar to make sure we didn't get killed and Jackie decided to tag along because he isn't a 'people person'."

"What?" Nygus shouted. "That's a mission for a two star meister group!"

"Nygus," Sid muttered. "Maybe Stein is testing them."

"It still seems fishy to me," Nygus said before turning back to Meme. "Now, why are you here?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! The kishin egg is really strong, and it nearly killed all of us a bunch of times, and now Harvar and Jackie are fighting it in this old hotel thingy and its covered in gasoline and stuff," Meme said, explaining the situation as well as she could. Nygus and Sid stared at her in a mixture of confusion and horror, as well as a tiny bit of relief.

"Can you show us where?" Nygus asked.

"Yeah. I think so, at least," Meme said. Nygus transformed in to her hunting knife form, which was quickly caught a sheathed by Sid. He nodded to Meme.

"Lead the way."

...

"Here it is!" Meme declared, panting slightly. She was very pleased with herself: she had only taken seven wrong turns to get back to the hotel, which was now on fire. Anya and Tsugumi looked up at the sound of their friend's voice.

"Thank Death you're safe!" Nygus said with relief.

"What's going on?" Sid asked. "What's your status?"

"The kishin egg is still inside!" Anya said, shaking.

Tsugumi nodded. "Yeah, so are-." Whatever she was going to say was cut off as the hotel exploded in a fireball.

* * *

**Chapter done!**

**Yay!**


	4. Chapter 4

**New Chapter!**

**Yay!**

* * *

_The wooden building was blown apart, cutting Anya, Meme, and Tsugumi with splinters and bits of metal as the shock wave threw them back._

Tsugumi shook at the memory. She was sitting on a hospital table, getting her forehead bandaged up. Meme and Anya had also been treated, mainly for cuts, bruises, and burns, as well as concussions.

"Now remember to drink plenty of water," Nygus was saying to the three girls. "You need to avoid physical activity and need plenty of rest."

"Yes Nygus," they muttered. They were still filled with a massive mix of emotions, ranging from fear and confusion to sadness and defeat. Nygus read these emotions off their faces like a book.

"It's okay. It isn't your fault that Jackie and Harvar got hurt," Nygus said gently. "It's not like you blew up the hotel."

"No, but we did cover the kishin egg with gasoline," Anya pointed out.

"Yeah. I think that counts as blowing up the hotel," Tsugumi said.

"Who are Jackie and Harvar?" Meme asked, looking around the clinic with a dazed smile on her face. Nygus gave her a hard look.

"I think that Meme is going to need a lot of recovery time," Nygus muttered to herself as Anya and Tsugumi began to remind Meme as to who Harvar and Jackie were. The door to the nurses office slid open, interrupting the girls' conversation. In came Sid and Stein, each pushing a hospital gurney. They wheeled them over next to the hospital beds.

"Maybe you three should leave," Stein said, turning to the three girls. They nodded solemnly, following Nygus out of the room. She led the numb girls through the hallways and back to their dorm rooms, where they entered into their beds silently without bothering to change.

"There is nothing to worry about," Nygus said again. "They have been operated on by the best of the best. Dr. Stein has never lost a patient."

Her words seemed to cheer the girls up slightly. It wasn't a complete change in mood, but it was better than nothing.

"Cheer up. They should be awake by tomorrow morning, and then you can come and visit," Nygus said. That seemed to cheer them up significantly.

"Alright. Bye, Nygus," Tsugumi said sleepily from her bed.

"Goodnight children," Nygus whispered as she flicked off the lights and closed the door. She was glad that it was the weekend. Those kids needed a few days to recover from their mission.

And Nygus needed a few days to figure out who the hell was stupid enough to assign such a difficult mission to a bunch of children.

...

Tsugumi, Anya, and Meme came to the clinic the next day. And the next. And the next, but Harvar and Jackie still weren't awake. It wasn't until the seventh day that something actually happened.

"Hey Nygus," Anya said as she, Tsugumi, and Meme walked up to her drowsily.

"Hello girls! You look better," Nygus said. "Are you here to get your bandages changed?"

"Yeah. Well, they are, at least," Tsugumi said, nodding to her two friends. "I'm here to keep an eye on Meme and visit Jackie and Harvar." Anya and Meme nodded in agreement.

"I'm afraid they haven't woken up yet," Nygus said apologetically. "You can still see them, though."

"Alright," Anya said, bravely leading her friends behind the curtain and up to the two occupied hospital beds.

She immediately regretted it.

On the first bed was Jackie, almost completely covered in bandages except for her head. She had a tube down her throat and tape over her eyes. Harvar wasn't in any better condition. He had a large cast on his arm, which had apparently been snapped by a wooden beam. He had similar breathing devices shoved down his throat. Even though they had been visiting for a week already, the sight of the two still made the girls shiver.

"Why aren't they awake yet?" Tsugumi asked, squirming at the sight of them.

"They just need a little longer to heal," Nygus said. The girls still looked incredibly depressed. According to Stein, their grades had dropped severely in the past week.

Maybe one of them waking up would help the three girls out.

"How about we see if we can wake one of them up?" Nygus suggested suddenly. "I can put some adrenaline into one of the IVs to wake one of them up."

"Really?!" Tsugumi asked, excitedly.

"That would be awesome!" Anya said.

"Alright. Come on then, you three," Nygus said, walking over to the cabinet and pulling out a small vial and a needle. She extracted some of the clear liquid and injected it into the IV bag. "That was about three millilitres." She went back to the cabinet after disposing of the needle and empty vial, reaching up high in the shelves to reach a slightly pink vial and another needle.

"Why is it pink?" Anya asked curiously.

"This particular medicine will allow Harvar to wake up a little more gently," Nygus said while sticking the needle into the IV bag, "and he's allergic to the one that I put in Jackie's IV bag."

"Really?" Tsugumi asked, watching as the water took on the same pinkish tinge as the medicine.

"Or maybe I have that backwards," Nygus muttered, receiving horrified looks from Anya and Tsugumi. Meme simply smiled at the bandaged nurse.

"I guess you're getting as forgetful as me," Meme said, giggling slightly.

"That is truly terrifying to think about," Nygus said with a shake of her head. "Maybe I just need to sleep more." She moved between the two beds, removing the breathing tubes and placing oxygen masks on them instead.

"I think that's a wise choice," Tsugumi said. "You don't know how far gone you are until you can't find your way back."

Nygus gave her a hard look. "That doesn't help," she said. "I'm going to leave you three in here now. I'll be just down the hall in Professor Stein's classroom. When the two of them wake up, make sure you calmly explain the situation to them."

"Okay Nygus. Thank you for all you have done," Anya said politely. The nurse nodded her head and disappeared out the door, closing it softly behind her. Anya took a seat next to Jackie's bed while Meme stood by Harvar's. Tsugumi watched from the window, waiting for the two older kids to wake up.

* * *

**Chapter done!**

**A little short, but oh well.**

**Thanks,**

**~CatKkit.**


	5. Chapter 5

**New Chapter!**

**Yay!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Nygus sighed as she looked around Stein's classroom. Sid had called in any and all of the teachers that could ever assign a mission to the students. That group was fairly small, consisting of Stein, Spirit, Azusa, Marie, Nygus, and himself. He had considered Lord Death, but quickly dismissed the idea.

"Alright, we have three students injured and two in comatose states. The person who assigned this mission needs to fess up now," Sid said to the group.

"How do we know that it wasn't you," Marie asked.

"Well, when they were out on their 'mission', they sent Meme back for help. Meme said that Stein assigned them the mission, through a messenger," Nygus said, giving Stein a dark look. Stein's face remained blank as he took a long drag from his cigarette.

"I would never assign a mission that difficult to meisters so inexperienced. I was actually planning on sending Killik out with Black Star to kill it once they got back from their missions," Stein said casually. His statement got him surprised looks from the teachers around him. He wouldn't just send Black Star out on a mission for nothing, and sending Killik along with him meant that the kishin egg must have been quite powerful.

"We were thinking that someone wanted to test to see if they could be moved into EAT classes, and when we thought about 'tests', we thought that you would do something like that, Stein," Sid said. Stein shook his head.

"Ms. Dupre and Mr. Eclair barely survived a confrontation with the kishin egg," Stein said. "I'm sure that Nygus can give you a full report on their injuries." The teachers looked at the bandaged nurse with anticipation.

"Well, Mira, how bad is it?" Marie asked, sounding as if she didn't really want to know. Nygus sighed, taking a metal clipboard out from under her arm, reading off the list quickly.

"Patient one: Jacqueline. She is suffering from three broken ribs, four fractured ribs. Multiple lacerations caused by wood from the explosion. Two deep lacerations, one across the chest and the other across the stomach, presumably from the kishin egg. Burns everywhere from the fire. Patient two: Harvar. He got it much worse off. We think he tried to protect Jacqueline from the rubble. His back is absolutely covered in cuts and bruises. Severe concussion, skull fracturing, dislocated shoulder and elbow, and sprains on both of his hands. Right arm broken. Seven broken ribs, one almost piercing his lung. They are both very very lucky," Nygus said, placing the clipboard back under her arm.

Marie looked absolutely horrified by the diagnosis. Azusa's face showed concern, as did Spirits. Stein's remained blank.

"What of the kishin egg?" Stein asked after a few seconds.

"It escaped," Sid said with a shake of his head. "Nygus and I would have pursued it, but we couldn't leave the students. We think that it's just on the outskirts of the city, but we have no one to go after it at the time being. We'll have to wait for Maka's team to come back before we do anything."

"We can do something," Azusa said, looking around the room. "We can figure out who would have sent them on this mission."

...

The three girls stood by the hospital beds for about ten minutes before either of the older kids woke up. The first to stir was Jackie, who blinked her eyes open suddenly and sat up. Meme jumped up from her seat in surprise.

"Jackie! You're awake!" she said happily, waving to her friend.

"Way to point out the obvious," Anya muttered.

"Anya! Don't be so mean!" Tsugumi scolded. She walked next to Jackie's bed with a smile.

"What happened?" Jackie asked, looking around the room. She looked down at her bandages.

"We were fighting the kishin egg, remember?" Meme said, sounding proud that she had managed to remember it.

"Yeah," Jackie said, her eyes suddenly narrowing. "You three dumped gasoline on it and it set the hotel on fire."

"We're really sorry about that," Tsugumi said. "And we're sorry that the building collapsed."

"Don't worry about that. It's not like you brought the building down on top of us," Jackie said. She smiled. "Besides, I was unconscious when that happened."

"You were?!" Anya asked, alarmed.

"Only a little bit," Jackie said. "I remember the stupid kishin egg slashing at me. God that hurt. And then the ceiling started coming down and Harvar..." Jackie trailed off with a frown. She jumped. "Oh my Death, is Harvar okay?"

"Yeah," Meme said. She leaned over secretly. "I think he's that guy in the next bed, but I'm not too sure," she whispered. Jackie looked over.

"Shit. That kishin egg was way too strong," Jackie muttered, watching her friend's sleeping figure. "Why would we get a mission like that?"

"We've actually been trying to figure that out," Nygus said as she walked in. She noticed their surprised faces. "Stein saw your soul and told me that you were awake. I came to check on you."

"Who sent us on that stupid mission?" Jackie demanded.

"You mean you don't know?" Anya asked. "Weren't you put in charge of us?"

"No, I just tagged along because Harvar asked me to," Jackie said, looking at her sleeping friend again. "He knows who assigned it."

"He should be up any minute," Nygus said. "We were thinking that it was Stein though. Meme did say that the mission was assigned by Stein." She had also said something else too, but Nygus couldn't remember it for the life of her. That night had been such a panic.

"There really isn't anyone else who would try something like that, except Lord Death, and that's a big maybe," Jackie said with a sigh. "The whole mission seems so oddly put together. It seems too sloppy for either Stein or Lord Death."

"We know it wasn't Lord Death," Nygus said. "That's probably why we're all thinking it was Stein."

"What will happen if it was him?" Tsugumi asked.

"Between you and me, he'd probably get fired," Nygus said. "Putting Maka and Black Star up against Sid and himself is one thing. They're in the EAT class, and are both have shown incredible potential, and they were in charge of the test the entire time. Sending a bunch of untrained NOTs out against a powerful kishin egg is entirely different. It feels too random..." Nygus trailed off with a frown.

"It feels too random for a plan made by the legendary mad meister," Jackie finished for her. Nygus sighed and nodded.

"We have a lot to deal with right now, too. Adding onto to that is the kishin egg, which is still alive and probably very mad," Nygus muttered.

"It isn't dead?" Jackie asked. She sounded more angry than surprised.

"No, and it's had an entire week to heal and hide itself again. It's only a matter of time before it starts hunting humans again," Nygus said. Tsugumi exchanged a strange look with her partners.

"What!?" I was out for an entire week!?"

"Yeah," Nygus nodded. "I actually gave you and Harvar medicine to wake you up." A shifting noise from Harvar's bed drew everyone's attention instantaneously. He muttered something inaudible before opening his eyes.

"You're awake!" Meme said happily. The other girls seemed happy as well, but Nygus and Jackie decided to cut to the chase.

"Who assigned you that mission?" Nygus asked. Harvar was still looking at her bleakly, still drowsy from being out for so long.

"Harvar, listen to me: we've been out for a week and the kishin egg is still out there," Jackie said. "Do you understand that?"

"Yeah, I remember," he muttered, sitting up in his bed. "What the hell happened to me?"

"That's not important right now," Nygus said.

"Yeah. Just tell us who assigned the mission," Tsugumi said. She was pretty mad that her one chance at transferring to the EAT classes was entirely a scam. Harvar began to cough heavily. He was trying to say something in between the coughs, but wasn't loud enough. Nygus bent closer to him and heard a single name. A quiet question received a nod of conformation from Harvar.

Nygus walked over to her desk, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She was muttering, as if trying to reason something out. She froze, here face changing from confused to shocked to absolutely livid. She stormed out of the room, feeling enraged. After a few seconds, Tsugumi and her partners secretly followed her towards Professor Stein's classroom.

* * *

**Chapter done!**

**Yay!**

**Thanks,**

**~CatKkit**


	6. Chapter 6

**New Chapter!**

**Yay!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Nygus walked down the halls at a breakneck pace. She could feel herself getting tense with anger. She burst through the door to Stein's classroom, almost ripping the door off its hinges. The teachers looked up at her in surprise.

"I'm going to make the wild guess that you've figured it out," Sid said, looking up from his seat.

"Yeah, I have!" Nygus exclaimed angrily. She marched up to Spirit and smacked him in the face as hard as possible.

"Hey! What the heck?" Spirit asked, rubbing his red face.

"Harvar just woke up and told me that _you_ were the one who assigned the mission, not Stein!" she shouted angrily, bringing her hand up to slap him again.

"Wait," Stein said calmly, grabbing onto her wrist. He looked at Spirit hard with his creepy eyes. "Spirit, do you have any idea what we are talking about?"

"No, I don't!" Spirit said, sounding very confused and more than a little hurt.

"He could be lying," Sid said.

"Let's beat the truth out of him, then," Nygus said, punching her hand and looking a little too eager.

"He isn't lying though," Stein said. "His soul believes that he is telling the truth."

"But that would mean that Harvar is lying," Nygus pointed out. "He's a good kid. He never lies." Spirit was looking at Nygus as if she was crazy.

"Who is Harvar?" he asked.

"Great. Why is everyone forgetting him?" Nygus asked, sounding exasperated.

"Let me try something," Stein said, walking up to Spirit. He looked the death scythe dead in the eye. "Who is Maka?" he asked.

"Who?" Spirit asked. "I don't know who you're talking about." Spirit turned around and looked at the stunned faces around him.

"Who the hell are you really?" Azusa demanded.

"I'm Spirit! The Death Scythe!" Spirit shouted. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

"I find it hard to believe that you can't even remember who your own daughter is," Stein said, giving Spirit a cold look. Spirit's eyes widened as Stein took another step towards him.

"Stein? What are you doing?" Spirit asked, sounding scared.

"Nothing," Stein said, walking closer. Spirit jerked forward suddenly as Sid appeared behind him with Nygus in hand, stabbing him through the chest. He pulled the knife out and let Spirit's body fall to the ground. The blade was covered in a dark liquid, but it wasn't blood. It looked almost like... ink?

Spirit's body was jerking on the floor before lying still. His skin and clothing began to slide and darken, turning into a dark, gooey puddle. Above the puddle floated his soul. At least, that's what it looked like before the top layer of it peeled off, revealing nothing but an empty shell.

"It was a replica," Marie said, looking at the puddle in disgust.

"Was it a witches doing?" Azusa asked.

"Probably. Whoever it is must also be in league with the kishin egg. The witch must have used this replica to trick Tsugumi and her partners into the mission, probably for an easy snack for the kishin egg," Stein said. "And, the witch probably has Spirit as a hostage, if she hasn't killed him already."

"And the kishin egg is probably with the witch right now," Sid pointed out. "Where did you say that the kishin egg was?"

"It's down by the caves," Azusa said, adjusting her glasses. The others around her frowned. There were miles of complex caves and caverns down there. It was the perfect hiding place for the kishin egg and the witch.

"It's too dangerous to go in there without a plan," Marie said immediately.

"I agree with Marie," Stein said. "We need to think this out carefully." He looked at the people around him. "It is imperative that this remains between us, and that no one else hears of this, understood?" They nodded, looking determined. They wanted to save Spirit.

...

"This is a disaster," Tsugumi whispered as she, Anya, and Meme ducked back into the clinic room. Jackie was watching them with a raised eyebrow.

"And where did you three run off to?" she asked.

"We were eavesdropping," Meme said with absolutely no shame.

"No we weren't!" Anya said.

"Yeah, Meme has no idea what she's talking about," Tsugumi said, trying to help Anya cover.

"We were just in the bathroom," Anya said with a smile.

"All three of you?" Harvar asked with a raised eyebrow. The girls nodded, making him furrow his eyebrows in confusion. "Is that normal?" he asked, looking over to Jackie.

"Yeah. It's a girl thing. We go to the bathroom in groups. It's for safety," Jackie said. Harvar shrugged.

"It's okay if you were eavesdropping. It's not like either of us are against it," Harvar said. "We actually encourage it."

"But we also encourage you to share what you have learned," Jackie said with a hinting tone.

"Fine," Tsugumi said with a sigh. "The Spirit who assigned the mission to you was actually a clone made of ink by some witch who has the real Spirit hostage somewhere."

"And you two probably don't believe us," Anya said with a frown.

"Actually, we've heard of stranger stuff," Harvar said.

"Like what?" Meme asked.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Jackie said, sharing a look with Harvar. They both cracked smiles, with of them wincing at the same time.

"Ouch," Jackie breathed, holding her side where her broken ribs were.

"Here, let me see if I can find the pain medicine for you," Tsugumi said, walking over to the medicine cabinet. "Nygus told us which one to give you guys if you're in pain." She looked on the bottom shelf, seeing two pairs of prepared needles, all identical. One pair was labeled "Morphine", while the other said "Sleep inducer". The second pair also came with an extensive danger warning, which Tsugumi chose to ignore the warnings. She was coming up with a plan.

"Found them!" Tsugumi said with a smile after she ripped the labels off of the syringes. She handed one off to Anya and walked quickly over to Jackie's bed.

"Ow. Give me a warning next time, will you?" Jackie muttered as Tsugumi jabbed the needle into her arm.

"Sorry. This is my first time using a needle that isn't on something dead," Tsugumi said with a smile.

"Do you think Professor Stein will give us extra credit?" Anya asked, catching Tsugumi's eye: she already guessed what her partner was up to. After the injections were given, Tsugumi and her partners stayed back, waiting to see any of the noticeable tells that the two older kids were falling asleep.

It only took five minutes before Jackie noticed that there was something wrong. She tried to say something, but found that she could not form words. She looked blearily over at Harvar, who was already out of it. She could guess what the girls had done and why they did it.

"Don't do anything stupid," she muttered as she drifted off.

"We won't," Tsugumi's faint voice said.

* * *

**Chapter done!**

**Yay!**

**Thanks,**

**~CatKkit.**


	7. Chapter 7

**New Chapter!**

**Yay!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Spirit's head was hanging low. He was tied to a chair with some sort of chain. His head felt like he had either been hit by a truck or gotten really drunk the night before and now had a killer hangover.

He was betting on the hangover.

"Oooh! Are you awake, Spirit?" a sing-song voice asked with a giggle. Spirit looked up groggily. His sight was blurry, but he could just make out a vaguely familiar figure. Tall, long brown hair with pink tips, pink eyes, wearing lots of green, very attractive... Had he met her at a bar? Probably.

"Who are you?" Spirit asked with a slight cringe. He did this too often, waking up with a strange woman and a hangover. He let his head droop down in slight shame.

"I'm Karen Piovra!" she said, smiling. "I'm a witch. I met you for the first time yesterday!" Spirit, even in his hungover state, could detect something odd in her statement.

"Did you know about me before we met?" Spirit inquired carefully.

"Of course I did, silly!" Karen said with another shrill giggle. "I saw you on your missions in Rome, Paris, and Moscow!"

"I haven't been to Moscow in eight years," Spirit said.

"You were there from December 16th to January 7th," Karen informed. "I'm also the head writer of the 'Ladies Love Spirit' blog, and I hold the unofficial world record for number of picture photoshopped to have both of us in it!" Spirit let his head sway slightly.

This chick was absolutely insane.

He was about to bluntly tell her that, but he felt something breathe heavily down his neck. It couldn't be Karen, since she was literally standing right in front of him.

"Awww Holmes likes you!" Karen cooed. "That's so cute." Holmes slipped into view. He was some sort of disgusting praying mantis mixed with a person and a lizard. It had old blood on its claws, and several slashes and burns on his chest. Spirit recognized it from a description that he had received a few days ago. There was something about a mission...?

"What am I doing here?" Spirit mumbled. Karen wasn't paying attention to him. She was too busy cooing loudly over her 'precious little pet'. "Uh, excuse me?"

"Yes?" she asked, looking up distractedly.

"What am I doing here?" he repeated.

"Oh, I'm keeping you safe!" Karen said, as it were blatantly obvious.

"From what?" Spirit prompted.

"Holmes, for one," Karen said, stroking the kishin egg's head. "He is allowed to eat whoever he wants in Death City. Right now, we aren't in Death City, so you're safe!"

"Who else?" Spirit asked.

"Well, there's Larry, Luis, Daniel, Pedro, Pedro Rodriguez..." she trailed off, a smile flashing on her face. "You know what? I'll show you!" She skipped over, into the shadows, and flipped some unseen light. The cavern was immediately illuminated, showing prison-like cells lining the walls. Each had bars and what looked like bullet proof glass covering them. Glowing greenish lines also stretched along the glass in funky patterns. They were probably from a sealing spell.

In each of the cells was a terrifying monster, all pre-kishins. They were all horrible crosses between people and animals or demons, which wasn't surprising, considering they were all evil humans. Spirit felt his spine shiver from all the corrupt wavelengths bouncing around.

"What are these for?" Spirit asked, trying to remain calm. The evil humans were going crazy, though, sensing the tiny bit of fear that he was emanating.

"To destroy the Death Weapon and Meister Academy, of course!" Karen exclaimed.

"Why would you want to do that?" Spirit inquired carefully.

"Because," Karen said, tilting her head. "They are a bunch of soulless murderers who deserve to die and have their souls reaped by the very being that they call their god."

Spirit got the feeling that Karen was more than one kind of crazy.

"These lovely creatures will be let loose in the morning," Karen said darkly. "They will raze the city in mere hours."

"But that's my home," Spirit said, trying to appeal to her. "It would upset me if you destroy it. My friends are there. My work is there."

"That's okay," Karen said with a smile. "Your home is with me now. You don't need to work or have friends."

"What about my daughter?" Spirit asked. He immediately regretted it. Karen's face turned red, and even Holmes backed away from her.

"Your 'daughter' is the byproduct of a failed marriage with that horrible meister of yours!" Karen screamed. "I will go into Death City myself and cut the little wench down with that idiot scythe partner of hers, and then kill him after he cries over her!"

"Not my Maka!" Spirit yelled.

"Too bad!" Karen screamed. She marched over to a nearby chest and began to rummage through it. She pulled out a bottle and syringe, expertly filling the needle with the questionable liquid. She turned back to Spirit with a creepy, terrifying expression. She stared at him as she slowly approached. Spirit began to strain against his restraints.

That didn't really work out for him.

Karen walked around his chair, jamming the needle into his neck.

"By the time you wake up, your precious Death City will be completely destroyed, along with your home, friends, work, and, most importantly, your sorry excuse for a daughter," Karen purred into his ear . Spirit felt the drug take control of his brain and body, paralyzing him while sending him off to an empty dream, filled with despair as he realized that no one knew about what was going to happen when the sun came up tomorrow.

* * *

**Chapter done!**

**Yay!**

**When Spirit said, "What about my daughter," I was very tempted to have Karen say, "We can have one of our own," but that's really creepy, and I didn't want to scare any of you.**

**But I did just tell you.**

**Hm.**

**Thanks,**

**~CatKkit.**


	8. Chapter 8

**New Chapter!**

**Yay!**

**Enjoy it!**

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Tsugumi whispered to Anya as they ducked behind the rocky outcrop, hiding them away from the potentially wandering eyes of Karen. The octopus witch was too busy coddling her pre-kishin to even notice.

"Yes I did, and it doesn't sound like a good thing," Anya whispered back.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered, pulling nervously on her pigtails. She really wished that someone strong, like Maka, was there with them.

"Well, we could attack," Anya mused, "or go tell the teachers. Or just stay here forever."

"Hmmmm..." Meme said suddenly, getting a glazed over look again.

"What is it, Meme?" Tsugumi asked, leaning forward. Meme shook and shuddered...

And then let out what was possibly the loudest sneeze in history.

"Oh my Death. We are so dead," Tsugumi muttered as a deadly silence fell in the cavern, followed by the incessant screaming of the caged monsters.

"Way to go, Meme!" Anya said angrily. "Look what you've done!"

"It's not really my fault though. It was the dust," Meme said sullenly, shrinking under Anya's glare. "I'm sorry, Anya."

"Who's there?" They could hear Karen shouting. "Holmes! Find them!"

"Nope nope nope," Anya said as she did the most rational thing and took off, back down the small tunnel they came in. Meme and Tsugumi were hot on her heels.

And so was Holmes.

The disgusting monster was roaring as he busted through the rocky outcrop that had so helpfully hidden the three girls. Their hearts were beating fast as they turned through the tunnel, hearing the angry screeching from the monster that had nearly killed them a week ago. Now, he wasn't as intimidating as many of Karen's caged monsters.

"Go right!" Anya, who was in the lead, shouted. Meme and Tsugumi obeyed, skidding around a sharp corner and nearly running into the suddenly low ceiling. They girls got on their hands and knees and crawled underneath, emerging in a larger, more airy tunnel. They heard Holmes slam into the wall, bringing cascade of dust down on his head.

Holmes let out a strangely feminine sneeze.

"Gesundheit!" Meme said, only to be roared at. Holmes was stretching his bladed arms out, like a dog trying to get a treat that fell under a couch.

"That was a close one," Tsugumi said with a sigh.

"Uh, guys?" Anya whispered, poking Tsugumi in the side.

"What?" Tsugumi asked as she and Meme turned around.

They were in one of the cages.

"That worked out well," Karen said as she approached the cage. "I didn't really want to kill anyone."

"Oh, that's so nice of you," Meme said with a smile. "What is your name?"

"I'm Karen!" she said, seemingly taken aback by Meme's friendliness.

"I have an auntie named Karen," Meme said. "She's not very nice, though."

"Awwwww! I'm so sorry!" Karen said. Tsugumi and Anya shared looks and decided that what Meme was doing was nothing short of genius.

"Yeah, her auntie is really mean," Tsugumi said with a pout. "She doesn't like Anya." Anya gave Karen a very tearful look.

"You seem much nicer," Anya said with a sad smile.

"Don't you run a blog?" Tsugumi asked, recalling what they overheard earlier.

"Why yes! Are you girls fans?" Karen said.

"Of course! I read up on as much as I could before coming to this school, and your blog told me so much!" Tsugumi said.

"Really?" Karen inquired.

"Yes! It told us important stuff, like how missions work!" Anya interjected.

"Well, I'm glad it helped you girls out!" Karen exclaimed happily. Anya let out a small scream as Holmes's claw scraped her calf.

"Can we come out?" Meme asked. "Holmes doesn't seem to like us very much."

"Of course," Karen said, pulling out a golden key and sticking it in a key hole. With a wave of her hand, the sealing spell around their cage was gone, and the door was popped open.

"Thank you!" Tsugumi said graciously as she hopped out of the cage.

"This particular cage isn't the best," Karen said, closing it. She didn't bother re-sealing it.

"We can tell," Anya said.

"Yeah. We did manage to break into it," Meme said.

"I know," Karen said with a wrinkle of her nose. "I had to move all my little pets from that cage since they kept escaping."

"That's smart," Meme said with a nod.

"Would you girls care for something to drink? I have tea," Karen offered.

Tsugumi was about to turn her down, but Anya cut her off.

"We would love some!" she exclaimed.

"I'll go put some water on. Stay right here!" Karen said as she walked off. Holmes emerged from the tunnel, pale with dust. He trotted past the girls and followed Karen into a separate cavern

"We need to get out of here," Anya whispered.

"But we need to take Spirit with us!" Meme argued, pointing at the unconscious death scythe on the other side of the room.

"And what about her plan for tomorrow?" Tsugumi asked. "We can't just allow her to let all these monsters loose!" They began whispering to each other, trying to fabricate some sort of plan.

"Alright girls! Come take a seat!" Karen called from inside the other cave.

"We're coming!" Anya called sweetly. Tsugumi glanced at her two partners as they began to walk.

"What are we going to do?"

* * *

**Chapter done!**

**Yay!**

**Thanks,**

**~CatKkit.**


End file.
